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William Ivey Long (b. 1947) is a leading costume designer for the stage, film, and television, whose creativity, artistry, and craftsmanship have earned him ovations throughout the theater community and beyond. A defining presence on Broadway, he has won six Tony Awards for costume design and a National Arts Award for Fashion. Ivey is unique in the history of costume design, operating at once in the atelier traditions of court costumers of Louis XIV and in the dazzling mode of contemporary Parisian couturiers. His work combines an understanding of art history with bespoke fashion skills to create visual illusion and material reality.

William Ivey Long tells the story of an American legend through a review of his illustrious career and an analysis of his work; copious illustrations of his sketches, fabric swatches, and costume designs; and discussion of the productions brought to life by his award-winning costumes, including Cinderella, Little Dancer, Grease Live!, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show Let’s Do the Time Warp Again.

Annie Carlano is senior curator of craft, design and fashion at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina.